CC Sabathia Hall of Fame voting updates look great for Yankees' star

Yankees fan favorite CC Sabathia has made no secret of the fact that his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame would fulfull his dreams and put a fitting cap on his career. Sabathia's first chance at enshrinement comes on 2025's ballot, and though some have debated whether or not he deserves the first-ballot status bump (give us a break), everyone seems to agree he's Hall-worthy.

3,000 strikeouts. 250 wins. A signature 2008 October sprint with the Brewers, followed by a World Series in New York (with a three-man rotation, no less). A legacy of spurring change off the field. You can't tell the history of baseball without Sabathia's name -- and you shouldn't.

Based on the early returns from Ryan Thibodaux's team and their Hall of Fame tracker, the BBWAA members who've sent their ballots into the public sphere agree. While Ichiro is trending at a predictable 100%, Sabathia has appeared on 33 of 35 ballots that have emerged thus far, good for a 94.3% rate.

All an inductee needs for enshrinement is 75% of the vote.

CC Sabathia Hall of Fame Vote Tracker: Yankees legend in good spot entering 2025

Of course, as the pattern goes, the reporters most likely to buck trends and leave Sabathia off are the ones who'd prefer to keep their ballots silent. You can expect a dip of 5-10 percentage points off the public total once the private ballots are factored in and the voting results are officially released. Billy Wagner -- entering his final year of eligibility -- has been stricken by that reality several times.

The higher Sabathia stays, the likelier he'll be a part of the action this summer; 80% and over is typically a safe bet, but of course we'd rather see the votes climb even higher.

When will Baseball Hall of Fame's 2025 class be announced and finalized?

Hold tight; we won't know for certain whether or not Sabathia will be enshrined in Cooperstown until 6:00 PM EST on Tues., Jan. 21 on MLB Network. Hall President Josh Rawitch will appear live and announce which luminaries will be joining Dick Allen and Dave Parker in July's class.

At this moment, the only real question appears to be whether Ichiro will be joined by one, two, or zero names. None of the candidates beyond Sabathia and Wagner seem to be in line for enshrinement, while the Mariners icon will sail in (and would likely be unanimous, if writers weren't natural grudge-holders who'll probably penalize him for his singles).

Regardless, though this race may yet come down to the wire, it does seem as if Sabathia is overperforming early, a positive sign for his first-year candidacy.